Opinion: Russian women curlers were out of luck in Sochi

SOCHI, February 18, 2:40 /ITAR-TASS/. The Russian women curlers who performed well in the Sochi Olympics were just out of luck, Skip Lyudmila Privivkova who was not on the team in the Games, told reporters.

The Russian team lost 6-9 to Britain on Monday in round robin session 11 of the Sochi Olympics and failed to make it to the play off. The Russian national women’s curling team dropped from the round robin tournament, winning three matches and losing six.

Privivkova said it took tremendous effort to qualify for the Olympics. “We were hardly ever home. It’s a pity that things went this way. The girls were trying hard. But they were down on luck although they played well,” she said.

She also noted that there had been a slight misunderstanding between the players and coach Thomas Lips.

“I cannot say that he is a bad coach. He used to play himself and he can give a good advice as to the tactic. But it tells that he is a foreigner. He is amazed at our implicit obedience when we are given tasks to fulfill. But we are trained this way. Discipline in sports was essential since the times of the Soviet Union. He fails to grasp some things, and we fail to understand some of the things he tells us,” Privivkova said.